


Superhero Mashup

by Shatterpath



Category: Captain America (Movies), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alex is a lifelong Captain America fan, Crack Crossover, Cussing, Gen, Kara loves being around other superheroes, Mildly Cracky, Peggy wonders how she ends up in these situations, Steve is a showoff, comic book confusion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-07-11 01:05:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7018687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shatterpath/pseuds/Shatterpath
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's all just a weird dream... isn't it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So… I'm really not certain where this idea came from, but I ended up having some real fun with it. Like happens to me so often, a good idea runs screaming into the hills with my brain, and you people get the end result. 
> 
> I ran out of time to get the full product up for Steggy Appreciation Week, but there is more written and I'll add it once I finish up.

It had happened so fast.

One moment they were charging through the ravaged forests of Czechoslovakia only to be tossed like rag dolls by an explosion. Not an unknown occurrence, Peggy relieved to find Steve's large body between her and the deadly shrapnel. By the screaming, they may have lost one or more of their own. With a violent spin, they were airborne, speckled with stars of pain.

Only…

Only they were not coming back down to the ground.

With a multi-colored flash of light and a sickening lurch of their guts, the light was brighter, the thick fog of smoke around them smelling cleanly of wet and sky.

And they were falling.

Fast.

"What the hell?" Steve yelled over the accelerating rush of wind past their faces. It was already too violent for Peggy to be heard, she merely squirmed until she could wrap one arm around his neck, the other around his ribs, face buried in his collar.

"Oh shit…"

Insanely, impossibly, incomprehensively… they fell out of the cloud that had hid their sudden change in fate. Higher than planes flew, Steve and Peggy were in free fall. The ground below was a carpet of colors and textures, a major metropolis that sprawled out impressively, the endless expanse of an ocean close by.

"I don't like this dream!"

Peggy's cry was nearly lost to the roar of air around them and Steve tightened his hold around her back and skull, tangling their legs together. Where had the forest full of wartime violence gone? The air choked with smoke and pain? The Howling Commandos? Squinting into the gale, Steve watched the ground loom closer and closer, an anvil waiting to crush them both to jelly. Was it even real?

Then… then something was streaking towards them like a rocket. 

Squinting, tears streaming into the wind, Steve realized not a something, but a someone. Before he could register what he was seeing, she was matching his speed, grabbing hard handfuls of his heavy uniform, and pulling them from the deadly fall.

He'd only gotten a glimpse of a clingy suit of blue and red, a flapping cape, blonde hair and a pretty young face. "I've got you!" she called out. "Hang on tight!"

Pressed into Steve's back, the impossible young woman acted as a lever against gravity, slowly flattening the fall into a glide, their breath-stealing speed lessening. Peggy could finally move her head, physically startling at the stranger against Steve's back.

"Who the hell…?"

With impossibly strong hands, the girl hooked Steve beneath the armpits and lowered the couple with a gentle jolt to a blissfully solid surface. Legs as rubbery as a cooked noodle, Steve collapsed, careful not to crush Peggy.

"Are we dead?"

"I have no idea, to be honest."

"I had rather thought being splattered would be more painful and less flying. Did I imagine the nice woman in a suit not quite as ridiculous as yours?"

"If you did, then it's a hell of an illusion, 'cause I saw her too."

A shadow fell over them, a slim figure crouching down to block out the blazing sun. "She's right here and you're welcome."

Reluctantly, the terrified, confused pair shifted to look up at their impossible rescuer. She blinked owlishly and reached out to trace the white 'A' on the forehead of Steve's cowl.

"And dressed as Captain America?"

"You should talk," he sassed weakly, still caught between the sensations of falling and stillness and utterly confused as to what exactly was going on. Blinking eyes as blue as his own, the young woman continued to eye them like lab specimens, but flashed a quick look at her own superhero clothes. The stylized 'S' on her chest was very distinctive.

"I daresay you are the most feminine Superman I have ever seen," Peggy said dryly, her voice steady despite the way she trembled against Steve. When the two costumed superheroes looked oddly at her, she shrugged. "What? I'm British, not ignorant. I've read a comic book or two."

Footfalls were suddenly approaching, a male voice yelling out. "Jeez, are you guys okay? Good catch, Supergirl."

"Good eyes, spotting them and calling for help."

The two newcomers stared at Steve and Peggy as they shakily got to their feet, warily looking around at the unfamiliar city around them.

"Nice cosplay," Winn said, as excited as always with every new twist and turn his friendship with Kara brought him. "Very convincing, but who are you, ma'am?"

For a moment, Peggy debated keeping her own counsel, but the woman known as Supergirl was still within arm's reach, watching them warily. If she could fly and effortlessly wrangle their combined weight, what else was she capable of?

"Agent Peggy Carter, S--"

"SSR! Awesome! Love the brunette, but you'll have to explain the accent to me. French would make more sense, wouldn't it? Ah well, the authenticity is spot on. Even the tommy!" 

"Most of those words made sense," Steve said on a sigh and reached up to pull off the cowl and run fingers through his sweaty, filthy hair. "But not the order of them. This is by far the weirdest and most elaborate comic book dreams I've ever had. And I've had some doozies."

Peggy caught the confused glance shared between the three strangers and her hand dropped to the Thompson machine gun hanging from her torso. Abruptly, the mood of the strange meeting went from warily curious to completely alarmed. Even as Peggy wrapped her hand around the gun, Kara blurred into action, grabbing her wrist and getting between Peggy and her friends. It was a hard grip, like an iron shackle, compressing Peggy's flesh to her bones. But it didn't feel bruising, even when Steve snarled and leapt to shove Kara back, breaking her grip. 

Both blinked in shock.

"Hey, whoa!" Winn yelled from where he wisely stayed behind Kara. "Did he just shove you?"

"He did," she said flatly. "But no human is that strong."

Like the young men kept behind their superhero, Peggy wisely stayed behind hers. "Steve, we're trapped on this building, and I'm not certain that even you could survive that fall."

"Look… Agent Carter, Captain," Kara said, hesitating on the names with an odd look on her face. "I'm going to ask nicely that you disarm yourselves and come with me to meet with some people I know. You two," she reached back to poke Winn, who squawked. "Are going to go back to your offices and pretend like nothing happened."

"But…"

"Go, Winn. You'll take care of it, James?"

"We've got your back, Supergirl."

James, having agreed with her, wrapped a long arm around Winn's neck, dragging him, protesting, back the way they'd came. 

"Figures I managed to lose the gun and the damn shield before whatever happened, happened," Steve said wryly, flapping the empty holster where his colt would normally rest. 

"In your defense," Peggy chuckled as she reluctantly undid her utility belt to hold it out with the machine gun. "We were in the midst of an ambush. When we wake from this ridiculous dream, we'll hopefully both be alive and well."

Kara seemed surprised that they complied so easily, holding the weapons as though they were something distasteful. Neither soldier would argue the tools of their trade were exactly that. 

Again, Peggy looked around before settling her wry expression on their unexpected host. "I suppose this means more flying will be required."

After a moment's hesitation, Steve swept his gloved hand over her head. "Hey, the last fall came out okay. I'm sure the nice local wouldn't have caught us only to drop us now, right?"

"No surprises, I promise. Nice, easy, horizontal motion."

With that reassurance, Kara finished buckling Peggy's belt around her own waist and awkwardly eyed the machine gun.

"If I might?" Peggy offered and Kara shrugged before handing it back. With quick hands, the magazine was out and the barrel emptied, both handed over to be shoved into the belt. Then Steve buckled his helmet back on and crouched a bit to offer open arms to Peggy.

"Your chariot, madam?"

Looping her arms around his neck, Peggy clutched close, her legs slung over one arm, the other left free to cling to their ride.

"Don't let go."

"Never gonna happen, sweetheart."

Kara was fascinated by them, the bond between them a warm, adoring thing. Steve looped an iron-hard arm around Kara's neck and she grabbed the heavy straps stitched into his patriotic suit before pushing away from gravity. She was discrete enough to ignore the matched sounds of alarm from her passengers and set off a quick pace towards the DOE base. As promised, she stuck to the horizontal, the humans' combined weight no strain on her Kryptonian powers. Though, really, how could this 'Captain America' be so impossibly strong?

For her part, Peggy was not at all having a good day, far too aware of the yawning expanse of open air beneath her, even as she hid her face in the collar of Steve's uniform. Everything was going fine until there was another flash and everything felt… strange for a moment. 

At least the fall was brief, Supergirl powerdiving to grab them in a big, group hug. "What the hell was that? You guys went… insubstantial for a second there."

"Are we there yet?"

Steve's voice was strained and Peggy remained stubbornly silent for the rest of the trip.

Between the powerful alien clutch and the lizard-brain terror of freefall twice in one day, Peggy and Steve had no clue where they were and, frankly, they didn't care. The insane dream would end eventually and they would be back in their familiar war to pick up where they left off. Until then, they would play along. Finally, cool darkness closed around them, the sound of people at work echoing from hard surfaces, the sound of powerful combustion engines. Sure enough, it was a hanger of some sort, crowded with heavy trucks and cars and some odd machines that looked like giant dragonflies with a forest of horizontal antennae bristling from their backs.

"Are those helicopters?" Peggy marveled. "Look at the size and complexity of them."

"And so many rotors. Guess you'd need it for that mechanized gorilla."

"When did you see a helicopter?"

"Now, that's classified Agent," Steve teased affectionately and Peggy made a rude noise at him. Kara was fascinated.

"Oh, don't you think you're hilarious. It's too bad Howard isn't here, he would be beside himself with joy."

"And possibly blow something up."

"You have a point, my good captain."

There were dozens of busy people in matching black clothing moving about the hanger at a multitude of tasks as the strange trio drifted along the cavern's ceiling, low enough now that Steve could easily keep them mostly safe from a fall. With that reassurance, the displaced soldiers watched the controlled chaos, noting the idly curious glances here and there.

"Good to see all the women," Peggy commented as they drifted lower and lower, through a heavy, oversized door and into a high-domed central command center. One didn't need to know what all the consoles and levers and blinking lights did to know what it was from the intent of the people inside. Though the colorful moving pictures-- looking true to life-- were hard to tear their gazes from.

This groups of soldiers, agents, whatever they were, had a different feel from the others, a sense of sharpness and command that focused like a gun-sight on the arriving trio. Guns were not actively drawn, but there was a palpable sense of near-danger in the room.

"Dare I ask?" The slender brunette carried herself like someone much larger and gave Supergirl a wry look that was almost affectionate. "I don't recall anyone ordering entertainment."

"My dancing days are over," Steve sassed as ground finally touched his feet and he could pry his death grip from the back of Supergirl's neck. While he reassured himself that Peggy was okay, Kara stepped over to her sister while holding out the confiscated utility belt. 

"Hey, Agent Danvers, meet Captain Steve Rogers and Agent Peggy Carter."

The dry look Alex leveled at her sister could have turned the Great Lakes into a desert.

"They fell out of the sky and a Catco employee spotted them, so I was able to rescue them. On the trip over here, they went insubstantial for a split second, slipped right out of my grasp. And there was a flash of light."

"Get hit by lightning again?"

"Ha, ha."

With a casualness that did little to belie the menace she carried, Agent Danvers strolled around the wary soldiers. "Well, you look the part. Smell it too. The brunette is a nice twist and I sure as hell don't miss the stupid beret."

"Honestly Steve," Peggy said flatly, her posture rigid and annoyed. "This must be your dream, since you have a 'thing' for blondes."

Steve sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

The newcomers noted an imposing black man step over to stand shoulder to shoulder with Agent Danvers. He exuded a sense of authority that captured their attention, and curiosity. "I'm Director Henshaw and…" there was an odd pause as he studied them closely. The strange sense of being looked through was unsettling. "And you're a long way from home."

With little option but to trust, Steve shrugged, but it was Peggy that spoke up. "As we were in a wet, battlefield forest many thousands of miles from either of our homelands being ambushed by our enemies, yes, I would say that we are indeed a long way from home."

Hank smirked faintly at the icy bristle of the Englishwoman and leveled a long, significant look at Alex. After a moment to puzzle it out, her eyes went wide, her head jerking over to stare at the filthy strangers and then the canvas utility belt in her hand.

"So, first the Flash and now… this?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I'm terrible at brevity, there will apparently be a third chapter!

Further conversation was halted when Steve's stomach growled and Alex swallowed a grin. "Sounds like lunch and hot showers are in order. Supergirl, if you'd take care of the later, I'll volunteer to scare up some clothes."

The lustful looks the offer of showers garnered were almost comical in their intensity. Being around people clean and well-groomed was making the soldiers far too aware of their filthy condition.

"Sure thing, Agent," Kara agreed with a smile and gestured for the strange visitors to follow her through more of the concrete hallways lined with glass and sleek technology that was meaningless to the visitors from the past. Thankfully, the locker room was decidedly low tech and Steve was fine with shooing Peggy off to the curtained cubicles while he sat on the sturdy wooden bench there, once more pulling off his cowl and rubbing his head.

"Take your time, Agent Carter," Kara called out. "There is more than enough hot water for a whole army."

"I have your back, Peggy," Steve added when all noises had stopped behind the curtain. After a moment, they resumed and a pile of clothing was pushed out before the shower whooshed to life. The throaty sound of pleasure that no normal ear could catch, made Steve duck his head and his ears to pink. Kara did not miss either reaction.

"Superman is my cousin. He just got here before I did."

That got Steve to look up and focus his attention away from the love of his life too close and enticing behind him. "So, are you a mild-mannered reporter too?"

The sharp look he earned made him sigh at himself.

"Sorry, uh, Supergirl. This is just a lot to take in. And it sure as hell doesn't feel like a dream. Figure in a proper dream, ya wouldn't smell like a sewer, huh?"

Before she could reply, Alex crashed in, uncharacteristically flustered and laden down with a slithery armload of fabric and plastic. "Well, our resident telepath vets your story. Or this is the weirdest cosmic practical joke."

"Telepath?"

"Yes, Captain, a telepath. Oh, don't look so surprised. You just dimension hopped, you're in the same room as an alien and I've seen the pictures--well drawings anyway-- of what you looked like before the super serum."

Peggy's peal of laughter from the shower did more to reassure Steve than any words ever could. 

Alex crouched beside Steve's bench and draped a selection of clothing and towels over it. Kara was trying not to laugh at how her big sister was doing her best to not ogle this childhood superhero impossibly come to life. "I, uh, did my best to guess what would fit the two of you and we have a laundry facility on base so I'll have your…" her voice trailed off as she got a good look at just how wrecked Peggy's discarded clothing truly was. "I'll have your clothes back to you ASAP."

With quick, competent hands, Alex rifled Peggy's pockets and left everything piled on the bench beside Steve's hip. He noted how she lingered over odd things, the crappy little can opener that came with every meal pack, the crumpled and wax wrapped hard candies, the battered tube of red lipstick. Steve touched the dented gold pocket watch he had never seen before, wondering what the story was behind the poor thing. It looked like someone had driven a tank over it. 

"A body forgets comforts in battle," Steve said quietly and Alex fired him a strangely vulnerable look. Normally, she would not have flinched even over the distasteful task of sorting these filthy clothes, but her inner child was completely in awe. 

"Yeah, I can imagine."

With boots in one sack and fabrics in the other, Alex separated out the loaner clothing into two piles. Now, Steve had never gotten a chance to get up close and personal with Peggy as he'd like to, but half of her pile wasn't going to fit. When he joked about that, Kara finally cracked a real grin. 

With no prompting from his caretakers, Steve stood suddenly and began emptying his pockets, the detritus coming to rest beside Peggy's things. 

"'Fraid I'm a bit more of a packrat that she is. Oh, that's where that ended up."

It was a lot of stuff. Bits and pieces of meal packs, a few loose bullets, a streetcar token from Brooklyn, a battered rainbow of pencils and scraps of paper in all manner of condition. Finally he tossed the cowl into one rustling plastic bag Kara held open and skinned off his armored patriotic shirt to drop it into Alex's.

"I think maybe I better just burn this," he joked, tugging at the snug t-shirt that was as much holes as fabric.

"I'll add a bit of bleach, Captain," Alex said wryly and he flashed a warm grin as he stripped the poor shirt off.

"Steve is fine, Agent."

"Alex."

"Alex," he repeated warmly and offered a big hand. For a moment, Alex could only stare before she grinned like a kid and shook it heartily. 

"A real pleasure, Cap-- err, Steve."

The shower fell silent and Alex awkwardly gestured at the pile of loaners. "I should get Agent Carter her clothes."

'Big fan,' Kara mouthed and made Steve chuckle. He sat to strip his boots, bare toes happily wriggling once they were freed. "Better?" he asked Peggy when she stepped out, barefoot and dressed in nondescript black clothing, rubbing a damp towel over her wet hair.

"That was incredibly delightful. I'm beginning to like this dream, regardless of the way it began."

Steve paused in switching places, nostrils flaring, and Peggy paused in toweling her hair. "What?"

"You smell good."

Peggy only smiled a bit shyly and ducked away, leaving him to vanish behind the plastic curtain. All three women watched him go, Kara leaning in to murmur quietly at her sister's ear.

"Climb him like a tree."

Taken off guard, Alex elbowed her and Kara laughed.

"Well, he is the pinnacle of human perfection. Give me a break."

"Yes, well he's only mostly unbreakable," Peggy added in wryly, hardly blaming the two strangers for their clear interest. So long as they kept their hands to themselves. "Thank you, by the way. For taking good care of us. Whether this whole incident turns out to be truth or some insane fantasy perhaps induced by that explosion… thank you."

"Good hosts," Kara said succinctly and gave Alex a sappy look.

"You two are close," Peggy noted, but her tone was not wheedling for more. She understood secrets all too well.

"Spend enough time in the fire with someone and it happens."

"Yes. Even a superhero can't do it all on their own."

Alex and Peggy faced each other down, recognizing a kindred soul, both startling at Steve's voice ringing out over the water.

"No we can't!"

It broke the half-hearted tension and Alex rummaged through the remaining clothes to hand over two pairs of thick socks. "I'll get someone to scare up some shoes for you once we have an idea of what size you wear."

"This is fine."

While Peggy covered her feet, the shower shut off and Steve's voice floated out. "When I'm not so curious about our surroundings, you'll have to let me use this thing again. So, you said something about the Flash? I know him, but not you, Supergirl. Must be after our time. Hey, Pegs, did your pants have this much elastic in 'em? I need about twenty pairs of these things. The trousers are nice too."

With a scrape of sound, he stepped back into the main room, damp and shirtless, toweling his hair. Sure, the body came with being a freak of science, but the little guy he still was on the inside could appreciate the long looks he got from women now. And this was a trio of very attractive women, even if there was only one who made his heart race and turned his brain to oatmeal.

"Did you steal my new socks?" he teased as he watched Peggy pull on the second layer.

"I did indeed, super soldier. Highly doubtful that cold feet will do you in."

It was in that moment the displacement struck again, the Danvers sisters startling at their impossible guests catching their breath and… blurring for a moment. There was no other description for it. The flash of silent light made everyone blink, but Kara noted that it seemed less intense this time. Clearly affected by the momentary effect, Peggy and Steve grabbed their skulls, the latter falling to one knee.

"That, I could definitively do without."

"And how."

Alex was immediately nearly in their laps, tilting back first Peggy's head to pull up an eyelid with her thumb, watching the dark eye refocus, then doing the same with Steve. "Well, whatever that was, it certainly is having a physical effect on you both. Is it clearing?"

"Yes. Fairly quickly."

"But not as quick as the first time, when Supes over there caught us."

As the moment seemed to have passed, Alex tugged up Peggy's final sock and grabbed an arm to support the other brunette to slightly unsteady feet. "Okay, more comfortable surroundings and a meal is my prescription. Sometimes, the simple things work, right?"

"Carry on."

"Guess I get you, Captain," Kara sassed Steve as he awkwardly shrugged into his borrowed sweatshirt and accepted her offered hand to get pulled to his feet.

"Guess you do. Thanks."

And so the DEO base was treated to the strange sight of their second in command nursing along a rubbernecking stranger while their resident superhero did the same.

Certainly far from the weirdest thing any of them had seen before.

The cafeteria was as stark and utilitarian as everything else Peggy and Steve had seen, more of the colorful screens flashing with film that was hard to tear their eyes away from.

"It looks so real," Steve marveled, wanting to go touch one of them, but not willing to bring more attention to himself and Peggy. The bare feet were doing enough of that. Not to mention his growling stomach while they waited patiently in line.

"So, I think I remember you having a crazy metabolism?"

Kara's cheeky question brought his attention around. "Yeah. It's hard to keep me sated. I gorge when I can get it."

Thus began the fascinating and disquieting spectacle of watching how much food Steve and Kara could pack away. It was hard to look away and the ripples of excitement in the surrounding crowd grew as they gathered semi-discretely to ogle. At first, Alex did her best to put the brakes on, shooing the onlookers off with a glare, but then the cooking staff got involved, bringing out several heavy foil trays of premade goods that were probably the base's next scheduled meal. Yet, Kara was grinning ear to ear when she wasn't chewing and Alex could never take away that childlike joy at such a ridiculous contest with someone closer to her equal. She never could. Steve for his part both relished the quality of the goods, hot and plentiful and delicious, as well as the contest of sheer quantity. 

Peggy wisely stole a scoop of each tray before the other two could get their spoons in it, her appetite nothing to sneer at, but well within normal human parameters. The macaroni and cheese she ate with gusto, as well as the lasagna, but the third dish made both she and Steve pause.

"Well, this is different," Peggy remarked as she chewed and Steve was curious enough to shove away the lasagna and reach for the new tray. It was some sort of stuffed, rolled flatbread drenched in a green sauce. It didn't smell like anything he'd ever eaten and the taste of it made him look puzzled and intrigued. 

"Huh, no kidding."

In a glance, Alex added her two cents to the strange conversation. "Crowd favorite. Burritos in enchilada sauce. It's even better with the beef."

Their blank expressions were somewhat comical, both pausing in their enthusiastic eating. Both sisters paused, recognizing the expression. Kara wore it a lot when she was new to Earth. 

"Do you like it? Even if it's weird?"

Steve shrugged and Peggy seemed indecisive, taking another heaping mouthful and chewing industriously. 

"S'food," Steve muttered as he dug into the strange dish, only pausing when he noted that Supergirl had not reengaged in the meal, instead looking at him thoughtfully, an edge of softness to her expression that made him feel like an awkward ninety pound weakling again.

"Have you ever been able to eat like this?"

There were three of the heavy foil serving dishes on the table in various stages of being eaten. Each of them was the size of a large serving tray and several inches deep. The growing weight in his belly was as foreign as breathing water and sated him in a way he had never experienced before. The sensation of always being at the edge of starvation was a familiar as breathing.

"No ma'am."

"Well, than enjoy it," Alex added. "We have plenty."

And just like that, the contest was back on.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! After a long delay, apparently I do indeed have a bit more of this story in me. There will also be a bit of an epilogue to wrap things up, but it will come along when the muses feel up to it.
> 
> Thank you!

"Dear god, where did you put it all?"

The trays lay empty and Supergirl looked ready for a nap while Steve looked faintly queasy.

"That was amazing. I don't know that I've ever felt so packed to the gunnels. Thanks."

"You callin' it, soldier?" Kara sassed wearily as she scrubbed her hands over her face. Alien metabolism or no, that had been a ridiculous amount of food.

There had been another of the strange blur-flashes during the meal, indicating some sort of pattern. It seemed to hit every couple of hours and Alex could only guess it had to do with her guests being out of reality and time. Her guests were also exhausted, no matter how bravely they fought it.

"I'm calling it," Alex suddenly spoke into the quiet that had fallen over the four. "You need some R&R, so I'm bunking you down for a few hours. Hopefully, you'll be able to sleep though the next wave of whatever these blurs are and then we can go from there."

"There certainly seems little we can do at the moment," Peggy agreed and smiled wearily at Steve. "I can't believe how much I miss Howard right now."

He nodded smartly enough, but the thin smile never reached his eyes.

With no fanfare Alex took Peggy and Steve to one of the utilitarian bunk rooms, gesturing about. "Pick a bunk, any bunk. There's a few sheets, blankets and pillows in the lockers over there and the bathroom is through that door. I'm going to set a guard on your door to keep your privacy and to alert me when you're up and about again, okay?"

Muttering something that might have been a garbled 'thank you', Peggy collapsed onto the bunk furthest from the entry door and snuggled down into her own crossed arms. Steve poked his head into the bathroom and cast a warrior's eye over the whole space before nodding.

"Thanks Alex, we appreciate everything."

Peggy hummed an affirmative to his words, making Steve grin adoringly at her.

Flustered again, Alex retreated to get some work done. While she was accustomed to rolling with the weirdness that came with her job and her sister, this one was way up on the scale. Despite the teasing she expected and got, she sent Kara off to her apartment for an errand that would have taken her too much time. The base was alerted to the visitors and warned to keep as much technology away from them as was possible without going overboard. Alex didn't bother to explain why, just trusted her people to be professional. She had no idea if this strange incident would affect her reality or theirs, but there was no harm in taking a few precautions. Guard rotations were doubled up on the holding levels and she assigned a few roving patrols as well. Kara called out to the rest of her day at Catco, thrilled with spending more time with their strange visitors and harassing her sister.

At the hour and forty-eight minute mark from the blur-flash in the commissary, it hit them again, the visual monitors in the bunkroom catching the whole thing.

"You have to be right," Hank mused as he watched the feed over Alex's shoulder. "That effect must be them trying to return to where they came from. And it happens more frequently every time?"

"It seems so. Since I wasn't clocking time in the locker room, I don't know by exactly how much, but I'll be monitoring them now. So far, there seems to be no effect on any of us, but in about an hour and a half, I want to have them in front of some more sensitive instruments. Hopefully without alarming them. I can't even imagine how different our tech must be from the forties, despite his being Captain America."

When Kara came back, she handed Hank a canvas bag and gave him a sober look laced heavily with affectionate amusement. "Treat those like valuable museum pieces."

The handful of 'Captain America' comic books inside made him sigh in affectionate exasperation and go off to his office to give them a quick read. Alex tucked her favorite little action figure into the cargo pocket of her pants and ignored the smirking sibling as best she could.

With fifteen minutes to spare before what should be the next event, the sisters headed out to collect their strange visitors.

"So you think this is real."

"Is it any weirder than how you and cuz and the Fort Rozz conglomeration got here?"

"No, I suppose not. Glad I was close enough to grab them out of free fall. I wonder why they appeared so far up anyway…"

Kara did the honors of rapping on the metal door hard enough to be heard. Thankfully, not hard enough to actually dent the metal though. Only then did Alex key it open, again letting Kara take the lead.

"Captain? Agent?"

With a brief scuffle of sound, Peggy and Steve joined them, caught between half-asleep and battle-ready. While reluctant, they agreed that a few lab tests were in order and fell in with the sisters, neither missing the way passing agents looked at them.

"Caught up the troops on the new weirdness, huh?" Steve commented.

"Well, it's not every day a comic book character comes to life."

The irony of Kara saying the words escaped no one.

By a slim margin, Alex managed to get her guests in front of a bank of sophisticated sensors only moments before their displacement struck again. Dizzy and disoriented, they clung to each other, Steve laying his head atop Peggy's dark hair. "We're gonna be okay."

"You sound so certain, Steve."

"Well, I have this stubborn lady who won't give up on me. Figured I better pass that on, right?"

Kara watched them with a soft smile, while Alex's attention was split between them and the information scrolling across the computer monitors. "Seems you can't get away from gamma rays, Cap. In addition to a lot of other scientific mumbo-jumbo, that stands out."

"Figures," Steve sighed. "Irradiate a guy once…"

With assurances that the radiations levels were low, just distinct, Alex was willing to not coop them up. But she also sensed that they were getting twitchy.

"Would you guys like to use the gym?"

It was exactly the right thing to say.

An agent met them partway, the serious-faced woman handing Steve a cardboard box. "Your kits, sir."

Steve rubbed the clean, soft fabrics between his finger and thumb before shoving his head in the box. "Smells good," came out muffled and the women grinned. "Even the damn shirt is more reputable, despite lookin' like a moth farm. Thanks, agent."

Vasquez nodded acknowledgement and gave Alex a significant look before striding off. Kara snickered and elbowed her sister. "You're going to get lectured about laundry duty later."

The gym was a big, open space with dedicated workout areas at the perimeters, lots of mats and shiny equipment, most of which were thankfully recognizable. Steve gravitated to a bench with his load to rummage through it.

"So much steel," Peggy marveled, stooping to run her hand over a heavy mat on the floor. "And these supple plastics are fascinating. You're very lucky it was us that were brought here and not Howard. You would have had to lock him up to keep any sorts of secrets."

"Hey, Peggy, they even scrubbed up our boots! Think I could get my new socks back now?"

While they snarked at one another and got back into their familiar footwear, the sisters hung back to speak quietly.

"Do you think I could tell them my name?"

Kara sounded so wistful that Alex's heart ached for her. "Tough call. If your cousin is a comic book character in their reality the way they are here, and you apparently don't exist to them, would information screw anything up?"

Sighing heavily, Kara rubbed her nose. "I hate temporal mechanics."

Wanting to hug her, Alex settled for a warm squeeze to the elbow. Properly shod in his dark red boots, Steve hopped up and rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Okay, Supes, let's see what trouble we can get into, huh?"

"No trashing my gym," Alex warned and shooed Kara off to play with someone closer to her power levels than humanity had been able to offer before now. Steve moved sinuously, like a predatory cat testing out an opponent, muscles tense and supple beneath his borrowed sweats. Kara merely watched him, curious what he'd do.

When he did move, she had to lay on the super speed to dodge. After that his attacks were relentless, testing out what she was capable of. In a matter of moments, Kara knew that while she had the advantage in superpowers, his skills were astonishing. And he adapted fast, testing out new techniques, changing so quickly that Kara was pressured to keep up. Oh, had the battle been with real intent, things would have gone differently, but this was a matter of skill and raw ability. Both of them were grinning wildly, relishing being able to let loose, even if only a little bit.

Steve went spinning away from a harder hit than Kara had intended, but barely touched down before he was launching himself back at her, a full-body stretch of deadly intent. He managed to catch her around the neck, unbalancing her to crash to the floor.

Alex hollered and clapped, despite wincing from the cracking of the floor. 

"Do save some of your strength for the war," Peggy called out when there was some space between the gladiators. "It's good to see him be able to go full force without intent."

"I was thinking the same thing about mine."

Swapping a grin, Peggy and Alex felt a bit of kinship through their loved ones and how similar they really were.

"Care for a workout, Agent?"

"Sounds good to me, Agent!"

Stripping off her gunbelt and emptying most of her pockets, Alex met Peggy on one of the lightly padded floors, where they circled one another, watching how the other moved. When the tension snapped, it was a clash of high-level training and ruthless brawling, neither of them with an upper hand. Peggy had mass and Alex a bit more speed, both of them a surprise to the other by being completely unpredictable in what they would do. Decades of formal military-style training versus the desperation of survival in the most ruthless of wars, they were deadly poetry.

It didn't take long for the superheroes to become far more interested in their loved ones than their own sparring. Together with a rotating procession of DEO agents, they cheered on the combatants until they waved each other off.

"A welcome bit of exercise," Peggy panted and gratefully accepted a clear plastic bottle full of good, clean water. After admiring the materials with wonder, she drained half of it before stretching out her back. Alex's watch beeped at her and she barely had time to speak.

"Brace yoursel--"

It was the worst one yet, Peggy and Steve's forms seizing and blurring before an even more blinding flash, and then doing it again. Moaning, both soldiers collapsed to their knees, holding their heads.

"That was different," Kara said with concern as she knelt beside Steve to brace him up, Alex doing the same with Peggy.

"Yeah, I was figuring the effect would be slowly getting more drastic, but that wasn't was I was expecting." Tapping the communicator near her ear, Alex spoke even as she grabbed her things and dragged Peggy to her feet. "Vasquez, did the passive sensors pick anything up?"

"Yes. But the levels haven't changed, just gotten several seconds longer."

"Small favors. Thanks, that's exactly what I was hoping for. Okay troops, time for a cool down and some hydration. Anyone hungry again? Vasquez, can you have someone bring whatever the mess will give up down to the locker room?"

"Sure thing."

Steve was rubbing his face with one hand, leaving his other arm draped over Kara's shoulders as he trudged along wearily beside her. Off of the locker room was a room with several utilitarian couches and smelled of coffee and fried food. Water and coffee perked Peggy and Steve up, the sisters hovering quietly.

"So, I'm sticking to the theory that your blur 'n' flash routine will eventually send you back to where and when you came from. Which is kind of a shame, actually."

"If we had to be stranded--" Peggy had to think of a good word-- "elsewhere, this would not be a bad choice. But there does seem to be an aspect of feeling… pulled, when this effect happens. Thank you again, both of you."

"Kara."

She hadn't consciously meant to blurt it out, but couldn't regret it.

"If we're going to be friends, you should know my name, right? It's Kara Zor-el Danvers."

The smiles she received from the visitors warmed Kara even as she leaned into Alex for a moment.

"I knew you two were close," Peggy said with delight. "Family is a strength we can all appreciate."


	4. Chapter 4

In the end, there was little anyone could do. The blurs grew more frantic and punishing, knocking Peggy out cold at one point and worrying everyone. 

It was Kara that suggested the absurd. "I'll take them to the same altitude and let them drop."

Everyone stared at her in disbelief and she gestured expressively.

"Is it any weirder than this whole situation? They appeared at above five thousand feet in complete freefall after disappearing from a war-torn forest in Europe from a theater of battle generations old in a reality that isn't our own. Maybe some movie physics could work."

When Vasquez of all people piped up, "One point one gigawatts," there was a moment of stunned silence before Alex burst out giggling and set off half the rest of the assembly.

"Nicely done, Susan, thank you. I don't know about anyone else, but I needed that. Okay, so if we go with movie physics, you're talking about letting them hit terminal velocity and see what happens."

"Exactly. I'll narrow the time frame down to catch them between blurs and bring them earthside again if I have to. But we need to get moving before they get any worse."

"Done."

Understandably, Peggy and Steve weren't thrilled with the idea.

"So, you'll drop us from a great height, just to see what happens?" The Englishwoman's scathing sarcasm was nearly enough to leave a sunburn, but Alex merely shrugged.

"It would be recreating the circumstances in which you appeared here. It's not entirely scientific, but there's circumstantial precedence and that shouldn't be ignored. Besides, you need to get home before these flash-blurs become actively dangerous to you."

Steve kept his mouth shut, deferring to Peggy, who scowled and stood stiffly in frustration. When she did capitulate, it was with a hard expulsion of air and a relaxing of rigid muscles. "Right, right. Best to know one way or the other. I suppose we'd best dress for success, yes?"

Neither seemed very happy with their own clothing, picking awkwardly at the familiar materials after changing.

"Gonna miss those stretchy things."

Peggy only made a sympathetic hum. They were almost getting used to the strange displacement effect that plagued them, both bracing themselves when Alex gave them the heads-up.

"Oddly, while they're getting longer," Peggy mused as she took a deep breath and shock off the most recent one. "They don't seem to be so… violent."

Alex made a thoughtful sound, her brain whirring away on the problem. "Hmmm. So you're either adapting to the effect and possibly the radiation, you're getting prepped to go home, or the link to your dimension is breaking down and you'll be stuck here. Argh, I wish I had more time to study this."

"Oh, how I wish Howard could have met you," Peggy laughed suddenly. "Then again, with your good looks and smarts, perhaps not."

"She'd have kept him in line," Steve chuckled as he settled all of detritus into his pockets and pouches. 

Standing out like relics in a modern showroom, the World War Two soldiers walked with the black-clad Alex and Kara in her colorful costume. Peggy found herself hanging back a few steps with a completely amused Kara, watching how Alex chatted animatedly with Steve, not quite smitten.

"I suppose I would be jealous, if he were not so clueless when he was being flirted with," Peggy mused dryly and Kara laughed uproariously.

"It's not every day you meet a childhood hero who has always been just drawings on a page. And Alex's weirdness threshold is remarkably high."

Getting to the hanger was a bit of a trial, the displacement nearly knocking the soldiers clean off their feet twice.

"At least you're not going insubstantial anymore, right?"

Hanging in Kara's rock-solid embrace, Peggy just gave her a half-hearted glare and forced her feet to get under her again. The desert surroundings were as foreign as the moon to the visiting pair, having never seen anything like it.

"Makes me almost miss Central Europe," Steve commented where he was drawing himself up again via a hard grip on a wincing Alex's shoulder and neck. Peggy patted Kara's shoulder, noting the odd feel of the red cape and bodysuit.

"Though my feet wouldn't complain for the lack of mud. Steve, do try not to spindle the locals, won't you?"

"Yeah, careful there, big guy, you might have to kiss it and make it better."

Alex's glare to her adopted sister made Peggy chuckle along. 

Evening was approaching with a slow spill of colors across the washed-out desert sky and they were down to only two and a half odd minutes between disruptions.

"I'm hitting the jets after the next one," Kara announced, "So do what you have to do."

With a mischievous grin, Steve straightened up and prowled at his fellow superhero, to sweep her up into a hug that would have shattered human bones. 

"What, no farewell kiss?"

Kara giggled girlishly at the sweet little peck Steve dropped on her grin, but Alex looked faintly disappointed at the same, then gave Peggy guilty side-eyes that made her sister cackle with amusement. Peggy crooked a finger and Steve trotted over, as loyal to her as always. He didn't understand exactly why she hooked a hand around his neck and gave him a sweet, lingering kiss, but he sure as hell wasn't complaining. Though she did stop him from going in for a deeper taste, even as her dark eyes had gone smoky and her voice deep.

"Go do that, but to her."

Blue eyes went startled and then amused, his grin wry. "Y'know the last time a girl kissed me, you shot me four times."

"This is true, but you did catch me unprepared. And, in my defense, I only shot _at_ you. Merely to test the shield's resiliency." 

The Danvers sisters both giggled, deepening Peggy's smile as she stroked Steve's chin beside the cowl's strap.

"Just this once, you get a free pass my good man. Smooch away."

Even with the magnanimous permission, Steve's body language was bashful. Sidling over, Kara bumped her shoulder into Peggy's.

"I'd flirt with you if it would make him less self-conscious, but I don't think I'm your type," she said wryly and earned a deadpan look. There was no heat to it and Peggy's eyes glinted with amusement. For all the utter insanity of this situation, Kara and Alex has been a pleasure to meet. The Kryptonian even played along, feigning a stumble when Peggy hip-checked her. 

"This is weird," Alex said, uncharacteristically awkward. "Meeting a childhood crush that was never a real person until, well, you."

"Lotta expectations there."

"Maybe, but you did a good job living up to them."

"Flatterer."

Now, Steve might not be the best with women, but he recognized eagerness when he saw it. And he'd been given permission to test our his kissing skills, so why not? Alex made a startled noise when Steve grabbed her and swept her into a classic dip. Peggy couldn't fault Alex for the little thrum of pleased sound she made into the kiss. Steve was a very focused fellow.

Kara joined her in clapping slowly and Steve bowed once he set Alex back on her feet. She merely looked a bit bamboozled, glaring half-heartedly when Kara teased her, "Did that bastard just Casablanca you?" 

"Shame she only let him kiss me…" Alex muttered low enough that only the blondes chuckled at her. Shaking it off, she called, "Time!"

The displacement hit and it was a rough one, as though the effect knew it was running out of time. Quickly, Kara dragged Steve to his feet and Alex grabbed Peggy to haul her over and press her into his chest.

"Listen you two, it was a sincere pleasure to meet you and I really hope you get home safe. Kara will take good care of you."

The visitors barely had time to murmur warm thank yous and give Alex's arm a squeeze before being whisked away into the darkening sky. Even knowing it was coming, Peggy made a vulnerable sound and clung like a burr to Steve's big frame, gratified that he was clinging back just as hard.

"You ready for this?" he shouted over the rush of wind and Peggy shook her head.

"Not in the slightest! But we'll have to endure!"

"I can do it if you can do it!"

"Good lad!"

It seemed like the wind roared around them for a long, long time before Kara slowed abruptly. "I'll be with you the whole way down, okay? Good luck and I hope this goes well."

"Thank you, Kara, for everything. We couldn't have fallen into better hands."

"It was a pleasure to meet you both. Hold tight!"

And once more they were falling.

Fast.

As she had done before, Peggy clung tight and Steve angled himself so that he took the brunt of the wind, watching Kara where she flew beside them, her hair and cape snapping from the speed. Then, he felt the tremors that had almost become familiar, growing in intensity, the air around him beginning to glow and sparkle.

"Here we go!"

And in a blinding flash, Kara's smile was gone. Dimness and the bellow of violence closed in, gravity pulling from the wrong direction as they were flung like so much debris from an explosion. A tree smashed across Steve's hip and ribs, Peggy torn from his grasp, stink and smoke choking what little breath he could suck down. For long moments he felt like the small man he'd once been, body weak and sore, gasping for breath. Thankfully, the serum did its job and he was able to recover, pulling his head up from the mud to spot Peggy sprawled out nearby, still as death.

A terror far worse than freefall burned away the last of the heavy impact and sent him scrambling, ignoring the battle raging nearby. 

"Peggy!"

Thankfully, she had come to rest on a drier patch of earth than he had, so she was in no danger of suffocation, and the deep, dark eyes he loved so much were blinking as she slowly began to sit up. Her hiss and the way she grabbed her ribs worried him, but she waved it off. "Any landing you can walk away from and all that. Find your shield, soldier, and get to work. That's an order."

"Yes ma'am," he breathed, but he kissed her swift and hard anyway, noting how she smiled.

They did their part, bullet and shield ringing out in the chaos amidst all the other violence until the Howling Commandos won the day as best they could. Naturally, they gravitated into Peggy and Steve so that everyone could check in. it was a familiar, noisy chaos of men's voices, Peggy's smooth and calm amidst them, even when Dugan bossily made her sit so that he could yank up the edge of her jacket and shirt to take a look at her purpling ribs.

"Why the hell do you smell like fancy soap and flowers, Peg?"

The others startled to quiet as Peggy shot Dugan a half-hearted glare because he wasn't exactly wrong. "Feminine secrets of the universe. I shall have to kill you now," she sassed him dryly and swallowed a gurgle of pain at his prodding into her bruises. "Be nice, you bastard. Believe it or not, Steve and I were whisked away to another time and place to visit with a friendly Kryptonian for a time in the space of that bright flash."

"And so soft…" he admired, fondling the edge of her laundered jacket, completely unfazed by the odd explanation.

"Retrieve your hand, Timothy, or it becomes mine by default and you would have a miserable time explaining the stump to the colonel."

"We need to get those wrapped up and I know we gotta a few bullet ventilations from that skirmish. C'mere, Cap."

With a few twists to gear belts and a gentle hoist, Peggy was ensconced on Steve's back, the shield protecting hers while the others clustered up around the wounded to begin the slog back to camp. Relieved to be close without needing an excuse, Peggy relaxed and nestled her nose into the collar of Steve's jacket to breathe over his skin. It was distracting and tempting in all the best ways and he tried to distract himself by verbally poking at the unflappable Dugan.

"What, no questions about our comic book adventures across time and dimensions?"

"Oh, questions I got, boyo, and if you two didn't smell like a couple showy French whores, I'd think you'd lost it. No offense, Pegs."

She just sighed and ignored the chuckles from the band of brothers.

And somewhere, time and worlds apart, a pair of sisters stood shoulder to shoulder and wished them well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was great fun and I hope you enjoyed the read!


End file.
